Mind Your Manners When Using Your Cell Phone

Some go to the grocery stores weekly. Some even go to the malls and other outlets as a weekend getaway for friends and family. When we visit doctors, we have to wait until our names are called in the waiting area with others. In all of these different public places, one thing is common. Most people have a cell phone or some smart device with them. And most of them can be seen with their heads down, ears plugged, and eyes glued to the mobile device's small screen. On the other side of this, some have no problem with having full-blown conversations in public using outside voices. We have become so accustomed to staying in constant contact with a phone which is a debate or discussion for another day's blog.

I am the mother of three boys under the age of eight. To be exact, my oldest just turned eight this past Tuesday. I have a three-year-old, and my youngest son will be one in March. I remember the days of sitting in the waiting area at the doctor's office while I was pregnant, and those around me had their phones in their hands. Let me be the first to say I am not an exception. I made sure to charge my phone the night before to catch up on television shows while waiting. I would also pack a snack and charger in case my phone died. This one day, in particular, I had an extended wait because my doctor was running behind due to complications in surgery. Next to me was a young lady on her phone. No problem there. Wrong. She was using her outside cheerleading voice with her smartphone on speaker. She and the caller were in a heated argument. I am sure you already know where this story is going by now. I was already frustrated that I had to wait and to add insult to injury, I was forced to listen to this couple argue. The problem was not that she was using her phone. The problem was not that she was having a heated conversation. The issue was that she was extremely loud and completely disregarded those around her. She basically robbed us of our peace and quiet. I remember pausing the show I was streaming on Netflix because she was so loud I got invested in her conversation. There is a time and place for everything.    

Parents instill good manners into their children at an early age. We are all familiar with the saying that "please" and "thank you" is the golden rule. There are rules, regulations, and etiquette for everything you can imagine. There is an etiquette for sitting at a formal dinner table, in a classroom, in a workplace, in a church, and social settings. There is even etiquette noted for using a mobile phone. Yes, there is an etiquette for using your phone. Now some would say that's just a matter of using common sense. It is much deeper than common sense. There is almost a science built around manners and phone etiquette in various settings.

Let us dive in and see what having phone etiquette is all about. There are some general rules about mobile phone etiquette. Then there are rules about mobile phone etiquette when you are on a date.

In the story I mentioned earlier, it is best to postpone having a conversation in public surrounding personal matters. Others that are in earshot are not interested, nor do they want to hear the details. Also, speak using soft tones. I remember being in elementary school, and the teacher would remind us to use our inside library voices. The same goes for using your mobile phone in public places. The following general rule regarding mobile phone etiquette I am guilty of doing. We should not text, accept, or make phone calls while holding face-to-face talks or interactions. Can you even believe there is a rule that you should be careful about which picture you save for a person's contact photo on your phone? Of course, we know we are not supposed to talk or text and drive. Now that most cars are equipped with Bluetooth, texting and talking while driving is hands-free.

Another general rule I learned while reading for class this week was that we should not fact check in the middle of a conversation. I am notorious for doing this. I had no clue that I was being rude. I am more so trusting but verifying. This next rule, when broken, actually irks me. iPhone users know that if a call is dropped, we hear a tone on our end of the receiver. We should stop insinuating that it is the other person's fault the call dropped.

Ring tones can be annoying in public settings. If it is not already being done, we should make it a habit to put our smart devices and mobile phones on silent mode. Before I purchased my Apple Watch, I did not use silent mode, but I would lower the volume on my phone while at work. You would be amazed at how sound travels, disturbing others concentrating on their daily tasks.

Who loves a game of phone tag? Not me. In this day and age, everyone has caller ID. In the same way, I saw I missed a call, and so did the person I called. It is a consensus that the phone tag game should end after four attempts. I want to add to this rule. Please do not text someone that you tried to call them. Reminder, they have caller ID. Even if they use a focus setting or have their phone on 'Do Not Disturb,' they saw the call and will return it at their convenience.

There are rules, regulations, and protocols for any and everything. Manners are essential and are not limited to being used at the dinner table. When using your mobile phone the next time you are in public, be mindful of your surroundings.

Come back next week for a new and exciting read. 

Brooks, M. (2019). Phone Scripts. New York: Wiley.

A Nostalgic Walk to Smart Phones, the Internet and Advertisement

As a Generation X member, I grew up in a time when research meant spending countless hours at the library. I would have to walk to the floor where a cabinet housed rows and rows of index cards with every book in the library index. I had to learn how to use the Dewey Decimal System to locate the book or books needed to write the paper. Computers existed, but typewriters were still being used significantly. Moving forward, do you remember when AOL used to mail a promotional disk to your home, offering free hours of dial-up internet service? You had to have a working land phone line to access the Internet. Remember the computer speakers' crackling sound while trying to access the world wide web? Seems like eons ago, right?

In 1992 dial-up service was offered commercially; in 1993, the world wide web was available for everyone to use (Mccullough, 2018). This information system enabled people to access resources over the Internet. Remember the cartoon show the Jetsons? This cartoon not only predicted flying cars but was the first look at Zoom meetings over the Internet that we know today. Now some of up participate in more than five Zoom meetings daily. Wow!

I remember getting my first cell phone in high school. I was fifteen, and it was the year 1999. The cell phone I had was a Nokia, and not many of my friends' parents would get them one. I remember being on the phone for hours playing games like Snake. I also remember telling people to call me back after 9 pm when my minutes were free. None of that time then was spent accessing the Internet. That Nokia was not considered a smartphone. The first smartphone was created by IBM and sold by BellSouth in 1993 (Mccullough, 2018). Its features included a calculator and a calendar interface with a touchscreen. The craze took off, and look at us now. When was the last time you walked down the street, entered the grocery store, or walked down the hall to a meeting and noticed the person next to you not holding a cell phone? To see a person not having a cell phone is almost a thing of the past.

This short walk down memory lane has been fun and brings back some good times when things were less complex. Fun times like standing in line at the grocery store, thumbing through a magazine, and waiting on the newspaper delivery boy so you can read the comics. However, that brings me to the generation after me. People born in Generation Z were born from 1996 to 2012. This group of individuals is the most dependent upon the Internet and can be said to be the forerunner of technological use. They have lived their entire lives on some form of technology or the Internet.   

There are nearly 6.8 billion people in the world that own a smartphone (Alter, 2020). We use our phones for everything, like shopping, taking photos, uploading online content, communicating with family, friends, and coworkers, emailing, surfing various social media platforms, and researching information on the Internet. By 2025, it is reported that nearly 3.7 billion people will use their smartphones to access the web (Mccullough, 2018). This number doesn't even include those that use smartphones and other smart devices. When you think about how digital this is, it makes you wonder how will this digital access impact television and advertisement.   

Before streaming services came along, we would sit and watch a 30-minute or even 1-hour television show that would be interrupted every 15 minutes or so for a commercial break. We have grown accustomed to our favorite shows not being interrupted while streaming on Netflix, Hulu, or Disney Plus. How often do you surf your favorite online magazine or social media site without ad pop-ups? Almost always, an ad pops up when moving from one screen to the next. They have now included commercials or advertisements when scrolling on TikTok. Online advertising can be very cost-efficient and is a more straightforward method of reaching a targeted audience. That is not to say that television advertising does not have advantages. Marketing on social media platforms or the Internet enables immediate feedback on a company's or business's products or services. Consumers are able to express their opinions on brands by clicking like, commenting in real-time, or sharing the content for their following base to see. When one watches a television advertisement, depending on the generation, one has to make a mental note to patronize the highlighted company. People my age or those younger may immediately grab their smartphones, search for the company and place an online order. The television advertisement shown during certain shows is determined by which company paid for the spot. However, the Internet or advertising on social media is depicted by the viewers' choices, cookies, or a previous search. It is no coincidence that you see digital advertising after talking about something or searching for something on the world wide web. Personalized advertising is the result of cookies or IP addresses (Alter, 2020). The cookie I am referring to cannot be ingested. It is a text file in your browser that keeps track of your searched information. Think of your IP address as your home address; it tells or gives the location of where you are. The balance between the two informs advertisers. As spooky as it sounds, this advertising method reaches a larger targeted audience in a short time using less money.

It was fun going to the library. It was exhilarating to be one of the first at my high school to have a cell phone. It is convenient to be able to search for something immediately without having to leave the comforts of my warm bed. It is even more convenient to place an online order and pick it up a couple of hours later after ordering. But we must ask ourselves, with an ever-changing digital universe before us, what is next? What is there to look forward to beyond 5G networking? Will we become like the Jetsons using 6G to fly automated cars? How will smart homes become smarter?

This blog entry has been your nostalgic walk down memory lane; come back next week for my next post.

Alter, A. (2020). Irresitible. New York: Penguin.

Mccullough, B. (2018). How the Internet Happened; From Netscape to the iPhone. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation.

Who am I and Communicating with Millennials

Working in higher education over the last two decades, ways of communication have completely evolved. There was a time that students received information through postal mail. As we know, change is inevitable in all aspects of life – communication is not excluded. We have been around long enough to see a shift from postal mail to electronic mail and instant messaging as methods of communication. The internet would go mainstream providing information a bit faster but still slower than what we are accustomed to today—moving forward to the innovation of mobile phones, social media, smartphones, and other high-tech devices. As the Jetsons predicted in their cartoon show years ago, we can now communicate face-to-face via a device. Not just communication, but effective communication is quintessential when speaking to students, customers, staff, and leadership from the top down. In addition to being an effective communicator, you must be aware of the demands and needs of your targeted audience. Building relationships over traditional print or digital.

I am a graduate student with three courses remaining before I complete my second master’s degree. I have transitioned into a leadership role that includes advising. In this position or any position for that matter, communicating effectively is essential. To be an effective communicator, you must possess verbal and non-verbal skills, be an active listener, have emotional intelligence and convey your message thoroughly. You also must understand your audience and know how they prefer to receive information. We are now taking an educational dive focusing on traditional versus emerging technology for the next few weeks.   

This series of weekly blogs will focus on the significance and elements of strategic communication, various methods of communication, and evolving media.

Here is an outline of the blogs to come is listed below:

•      Are Traditional Media Dying
•      Introduction to Digital Media
•      Mobile and Strategic Communications
•      Social Networking and Strategic Communications
•      Blogging, Citizen Journalism, and Digital Democracy
•      Crowd Sourcing, Politics, and the Global Impact of Emerging Media
•      Branding and Online Reputations
•      Children, the Future of Media and Regulatory Issues

For your convenience, this is my blog’s URL: lltprofessblog2023.blogspot.com.  

These blogs aim to learn, appreciate, discuss, and develop more valuable and strategic communication methods during the everchanging evolution of media. Change is inevitable. Leaders in strategic communication must be flexible to this change happening in media. Along with being adaptable to the change, leaders must understand how these changes can cause domino effects, risk management strategies to prevent domino effects in communication, and let go of what tradition typically means. Ultimately, these weekly blogs aim to utilize relevant tools to advance strategic communication purposes further. Effective and strategic communication is quintessential in any relationship – working or personal.

One of the topics for discussion this week is reaching a generation perceived to be hard to reach – millennials. There is a deep-rooted longing for publishers to be able to connect with young audiences. Establishing this connection is paramount to staying relevant. Millennials are not hard to reach. Those entities trying to communicate with them must understand millennials like to be heard and spoken to. They are more likely to give in to the buy-in when they feel they are not necessarily being discussed but included.

Any generation can be hard to reach if you are not communicating in a manner that catches their attention. Millennials, generation x, baby boomers, and even those of the silent era all want to stay in the know and be updated on relevant topics. Some topics overlap and attract the attention of members of these groups. Believe it or not, some people in the older generations know how to use technology and prefer digital print, just like the younger generation. An ever-changing world filled with technology is not the posing problem for publishers. Publishers need to understand that building a relationship with people in the young generation is as important as finding ways to communicate effectively with them. Publishers are also tasked with turning them into people interested in news. A lasting relationship is imperative if publishers want to engage and retain the younger generations.